Railroad mowing machine



y 7, B. L. MARTIN RAILROAD MOWING MACHINE Filed Aug. 27, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet "1 Mail 7, 1929. B. 1.. MARTIN I 1,711,853

numom mowme momma Filed Aug. 27, 1925 2 Sheat s-Sheat 2 a v M j a I 5 0 w F .W 5 6 Z 0. m Z g Y 9 L fi z z Patented May 7, 1929.

ururrl)v STATES BERDENE L. MARTIN,

or HUMEs'roN, IowA.

- RAILROAD Mow me MACHINE.

Application filed August 27, 1923. Serial No. 659,698.

The object of my invention is to provide a mowing machine, especially adapted for mowing the weeds along theriglit of way of a railroad, the machine being of simple,

durable and comparatively inexpensivev construction.

More particularly, my invention relates to a mowing machine secured to a railway car and being'capable of being moved to inoperative position: and being also capable of some movement when the mower or cutting structure happens to strike a rock or some other obstruction.

With these and other objects in view, my invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of my device whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claim, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in

which:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a railroad car with my improved mower attached thereto. I

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a detail, sectional view taken on the line 33' of Figure 1, showing the driving mechanism for operating the mower.

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on the line H of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is an end View of the car having the mowersecured thereto, showing the operating levers; and v Figure 6 is a detail, sectional view showing the stop member for limiting the movement of the mower in one-direction.

In the accompanying drawings, I have used the reference numeral 10' to indicate generally a railway car which is mounted upon the wheels 11. The car 10 is provided with a pair of end beams 12 and cross 'beams or supports 13; The supports 13 are used for supporting the shaft and other mechanism for operating the mower.

Mounted upon the car 10 is an engine 14, which has a pulley wheel 15 secured thereto. The platform of the car 10 is cut away as at 16.

Journaled within two of the cross beams 13 is a shaft 17 having a pulley wheel 18 thereon. The pulley wheel 18 is in line with the pulley wheel 15 onthe engine 14 and is connected thereto by means of a belt 19.

On one end of the shaft 17 is mounted a fly wheel 20 and on theother end of the. shaft 17' is an eccentric disc 21'.

A brake shaft 22 is mounted in the cross beams 13 and is provided with a brake arm 23 having a brake shoe 24.- thereon. The

brake shoe 24 is designed to engage thev periphery of the fly wheel 20. The free end of the brake shaft 22 has fixed to it a lever 25. I A notched sector 26. is secured to the cross beam 13 adjacent tothe'lever 25 and is clesigned to coact with a pawl 27 on thelever 25. The pawl 27 is operatively connected by a wire 28 to the hand control 29, which is mounted near the upper end of the lever 25. By engaging the lever 25 and moving it in the directionindicated' by the arrow 30, I am able to force the brake shoe 24 against the periphery ofthe fly wheel 20 for stepping it.

Mounted on one side of the car 10 are the brackets 31. The. brackets 31 are provided with a pair of spaced cars 32 for receiving therebe't-ween the;v arms33. Thearms are pivoted to the brackets 31 by means of the pivots 34'.

A shoe 35 is provided at the outward ends of the: arms 33 and: has formed thereon apair of upwardly extending ears 36. The cars 36 are pivotal'ly connectedi'to. the arms 33 by means of the bolts 37.

F romthe construction of the parts just described, it will be seen that the shoe 35 is pi-votally connected to the arms 33 and that the arms. 33 are pivotally. connected to the brackets 31. This double pivoted construction permits free movement of the shoe 35 so that it may follow the contour of the ground and be raised'upon striking any obstruction.

V The arms 33 are each formed with a shoulder 38 which strikes against one edge of the shoe 35 for limiting its movement in one direction, but permitting free movement of the shoe 35 in another direction.

The shoe 35 is formed with an up-turned lip 39, which is connected to reinforcing wires 40. The up-turned lip 39, upon striking an obstruction, causes the shoe 35 to pass thereover. The reinforcing wires 40 are in turn connected at their forward ends to a rod 41 held in position in the bracket 42. The bracket 42 is fixed to the car 10 as clearly shown in Figure 1 of the drawings.

The connection of the wire reinforcing members 40 is such as to permit pivotal or swinging n'iovement of the shoe member 35.

Secured to the shoe member 35 is a mower or cutting structure 43. The reciprocating cutter blades 44 are connected to the eccentric disc 21 by means of a pitman 45.

From the construction of the parts just described, it will be seen that rotation of the disc 21 will impart a reciprocating movement to the cutters 44. An L-shaped cover 46 is mounted upon the shoe 35 and covers the connection between the pitlnan and the cutting blades 44.

A yoke 47 is connected to the shoe 35 by means of the bolts 37.

Mounted upon the car 10 is a yoke or bracket member 48, which has pivoted to it a bell crank lever 49. The free ends of the bell crank lever 49 are connected together by a reinforcing brace 50. I

One end of the b-ll crank lever 49 has a clevis 51 thereon which connects to a link 52. The link 52 is secured to the yoke 47.

Pivotally secured to one of the cross beams 13 is a lever 53. The lever 53 is connected to the upper free end of the bell crank lever 49 by means of a connecting link 54.

A notched sector 55 secured to the cross beam 13 adjacent to the lever 53 coacts with a pawl device 56 on the lever 54. The pawl device 56 is operated by the hand engaging piece 57 near the upper end of the lever 53.

From the construction of the parts just described, it will be seen that movement of the leverv 53 in the direction indicated by the arrow 58 will cause the bell crank lever 49 to swing on its pivot for raising the entire mower on the pivots 34, and for holding the mower in position where it will not out any of the weeds or grass. This operation consists in moving the lever 37 until the shoe 35 engages the back of the notch 38 whereupon the entire weight of the mower 34 will be supported by the link 47 and pivot 34. Fur.- ther movement of the lever 37 will then raise the entire cutting mechanism as a unit about the-pivot 34. The mower 43 will then be in an inclined position and will pass over the tops of the Weeds and grass.

It will be seen that I have provided a mower attachment for railway cars, wherein the mower may be capable of pivotal movement independent Of the operation of the lever 53, when necessary, due to the striking of rocks or other obstructions.

The entire mower may be raised by movement of the lever 53.

My structure can be conveniently and economically operated and is very economically operated and is-very eliicient for cutting the weeds along the right of way of railroads.

Some changes may be made in the arrangement and construction of the various parts of my device, without departing from the essential features and purposes of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claim, any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents, which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim as my invention:

The combination with a railway car of a mower comprising brackets mounted on the u'de of said car, links pivoted thereto, a shoe pivoted to the free ends of said'links onv an axis parallel to said pivot axis of said links, a mower supported by, and extending outwardly from said shoe, a bracket fixed to the forward end of said car, a rod extending from said bracket to said shoe for pulling said'shoe, a bell crank pivoted on said car, a downwardly extending yoke loosely connected thereto and pivoted at its lower end to said shoe whereby said shoe and mower are free to follow the ground which they traverse, means for moving said bell crank for raising said shoe, means on said shoe coacting with said links whereby, after said shoe is moved by said bell crank a predetermined distance, said links, shoe, and mower will pivot as a unit about the axis of said links.

Des Moines, Iowa, July 24, 1923.

BERDENE L. MARTIN. 

